Dushanbe-Khujand-Isfara
Slideshow at bottom of Article
Sorry, missed a day. Time did fill up with events again. Let’s begin with dinner on Sunday night. After we finished communicating at the RI-Sol office in Dushanbe we went with our driver, Daniyor to the home of Shuhrat the office / financial manager for dinner. Nazira, Shuhrat’s wife put together a wonderful meal. The usual table full of treats and then followed with a meat and potato stew. Many foods are flavored with dill, coriander and green onions. Oh, yes sour cream/yogurt for more flavoring. There was also a Georgian hot sauce for the meat. That was quite good. We shared a good evening of laughs and talk about the families of our hosts and about Tajikistan. We got back to our apartment about 10 pm to clean, gather and get organized for our early flight to Khujand. We were scheduled out at 9:00 but we needed to leave the apartment by 7:10 so we are up shortly after 5 to take showers, finish packing and eating. Loaded up in the vehicle and went to the airport for the flight.
As normal everywhere it is a case of hurry up and wait. Time for coffee at the airport cafe and watching people. The security isn’t at all the same we would have at a US airport, a quick ticket check, a scanner that may or may not be working. Then we put all of our luggage, carry on, checkin, and anything we want. Then we take our goods into the waiting area and stand around. Hmmm still no luggage checkin. Finally a bus pulls up to take us out to the airplane. There are two types of jets out on the runway. A Tupelov 134A and a YAK-40, both are Russian and elderly. We are rather cramped into the bus, a trailer really though comfortable and driven out to the plane. Still no luggage checkin. Well to finish this part of the story, there is none. We carry everything onto the plane and there is one of those racks like a shuttle bus on the way to the airport. We overbook, two people stand the whole flight, one sits in bathroom with door open and fourth sits on the floor the whole trip. Honest for sure, wires hang from some walls. Seats small and flimsy, all-in-all a good, easy flight otherwise.
The northern region, the Sogd (Sugd), is very flat and without irrigation a gravely desert. The Tajiki have a great reservoir and have great orchards of Apricot, with wheat, some other fruits and inter-cropping of veggies and animal grazing. BTW: Apricot pits are to be put our to dried the coated with a fine powder of chalk and salt, the pits here crack when dried and are eaten like almonds. Very good.
Each stop has new foods. We had three bread and salt greetings, one at the airport, another at Isfara #1 and a third at the Lyceum. A lyceum is a fee school that is associated with public schools, better pay for teachers and better facilities. The ILC is at the public school but the Lyceum has the original director and was the original uses. The lyceum left this building on Friday and there is a dilemma about usage, ownership and relationship with the new director of the public school.
At the lyceum we are greeted with a long line of clapping students on both sides of the entry (30 m) and then a bread ceremony. Followed by singing and dancing, I dance ;>} We are given seats of dignitaries and given a martial arts demonstration by the club. Impressive. The young girl in the from has a hard time at times not laughing.
The schools all have gardens of some degree to grow foods, flowers and groups of students have required areas to maintain as part of their duties. A good policy by my bias. The uniforms add a lot to the atmosphere of a more formal setting. Being an Islamic culture the interaction between boys and girls isn’t anything like the dating scene we have by certainly friendly. Just dating is highly controlled by the culture and not done in public. Usually via introduction by the approving parents at an older age. Her also many husbands off to Russia as Illegal workers. Some talk of women being sold into prostitution and slavery to Dubai and then elsewhere.
We eat lunch with participation ILC teachers at the Lyceum (two blocks away), bread, plov, usual treats, choi (tea, green), soda, green apple or orange by RC.
We return to the ILC at the public school, greet the students, and Moses is the lead teacher. Moses is the corresponding US teacher to this school and brings gifts. Big gifts. It is a tearful and joyous occasion for all of at the great joy and thanks from the students and ILC teacher. Joy and tears are in the air and thick with happiness.
We stay the night at the home of the parents of the ILC director where we are given a demonstration of cooking bread in a different kind of oven,this raised on a platform, squarish and the opening is a front loader as opposed to a top loader. On this kind our leader, Susie is told that it is far too dangerous and no silly foreigner you cannot try it. ;>] The baker reaches inside and plasters the bread to the walls and adjusts the coals to give even cooking.
This region is quite flat with an immense, intense agriculture, the climate is like home hot and dry, just longer season. The plants are a lot farther along and temps. near 80 everyday. A great deal of haze in the air from dust, industry, fires. They do a lot of cooking on open fires still as in the bread and plov last night. As we were driven to the home of the ILC you can see a variety of plumes of smoke from the various cook fires. The sweet smell of dinner and bread hang in the air.
A good night of laughter and talk and an early bed, 10:30 pm. We get up early to the ILC to write for our diaries. We are to visit a tea house, the home of a wood carver back to school for a time , plov demonstration tonight and a russian sauna/shower. :>} Istaravashon tomorrow (Uroteppa on some maps).
If you Oroville people have any images handy send them to me and I can share them around. The people of Tajikistan want far more than I brought along, especially school and community images. Pictures of houses, people, stores, just common everyday life. Do size them small as my connections are very slow here. Keep images under 100k apiece if possible.
George Thornton <thorntong@chopaka.wednet.edu>
Oroville High School <oroville.wednet.edu>
<previous next> view play stop